Chapter 2: The Bet

A/N: I thank my beta for all the help that was given to me during this process.

Chapter 2: The Bet

Draco Malfoy was sitting at the head table in the Great Hall. He was looking at the paper in disbelief. Potter Marries Chang. He couldn’t believe what he was reading. What the hell was Potter doing? Everyone knew he was in love with Ginny Weasley. What happened to cause this? He couldn’t suppress a smile. If this headline was true, and the Daily Prophet wasn’t always the best form of news out there, it meant one thing: Ginny was now available.

He had been secretly in love with her since his fourth year at Hogwarts when he'd seen her dancing at the Yule Ball with that idiot Neville Longbottom. Of course, he'd never told anyone this. In fact, everyone he knew would never have understood. She was, after all, part of the biggest family of blood traitors out there. At least that was what he thought then. Everything had changed since the war was over and Voldemort was dead. He realized how dumb he really had been to believe that magic meant power. Voldemort had done nothing but torture his family since he hadn't been able to kill Dumbledore. Well, that part of his life was over. He didn’t judge anymore.

Ron, Potter’s best friend, was another reason not to pursue Ginny. He hated Draco. Well, at least before the war. Now they were merely cordial to each other. Ron probably would have killed him instead of saving his life during that Final Battle. Ron and Harry had saved him even after all he had done. Now they were off being Aurors while he was at Hogwarts. Not that he had any problem being Potions professor; he just never pictured his life like this.

Ginny is available, he thought. I wonder what she would do if I would ask her out. Would she even give me the time of day? Maybe I could send her an owl asking how she is. I couldn’t do that, he continued thinking to himself. She might find it suspicious. Well, he would have to run into her by chance. But where? He knew she worked with George at the Hogsmeade store; maybe he could go there. He had to think more about this.

“What are you daydreaming about, Draco?” Neville had just joined him at the table.

“As if I would tell you, Longbottom,” Draco sneered. They might be colleagues now, but they were still not the best of friends. Yet, they were always cordial.

“Come off it, Draco. I saw you reading the Prophet; I know what you are thinking.”

“What are you babbling on about now?” He hoped it wasn’t it obvious. Maybe Longbottom knew.

“I read the paper as well. I know about Harry and his marriage. Tell me, are you jealous that he made it to the altar first?”

“Me, jealous?” Well, come to think about it, he might be. He had been engaged to Pansy when he'd decided to take the job at Hogwarts. She couldn’t handle being with someone who didn’t make a lot of money. “No, Neville, I was thinking about Ginny and what this must be doing to her. After all, she was engaged to Potter not that long ago. It’s got to be rough.”

“What? Wait, you don’t have feelings for her, do you? You couldn’t, you hardly know her. Anyway, she wouldn’t give you the time of day. You don’t stand a chance.”

“Stand a chance at what?” Dean Thomas had just joined them for lunch.

“Draco here has a crush on Ginny Weasley.”

“Really? Well, I can understand; she’s a great girl. But I thought she was engaged to Harry.”

“You haven’t seen today’s Prophet then?” Draco questioned.

“Nah, I skipped breakfast this morning to sleep in. That’s what Sundays are for. Plus, I had some papers to grade. I haven’t looked at my copy yet.”

Draco showed him the paper.

“Oh, poor Ginny. What happened? Did it say?” he asked.

“All the article said was they got married in a quick ceremony witnessed by a few friends and family,” Neville answered him.

“But why, I wonder,” Dean said. “Ginny told me that she had loved Harry for a long time but had always been afraid to approach him. Of course, she told me this after she had dumped me for him. I thought they were a couple destined for eternity. Wow, that’s something. So, now what, Draco? You want to comfort her?”

“I never said anything of the sort. It seems Neville here has made some assumptions of his own.”

“I’m pretty good at reading people, and you had an almost vindictive look on your face as you read the paper. Just admit you are happy that Ginny Weasley is available. You can now have something that Harry does not.”

“If you do like her, you won’t be the first to fall victim to her,” Dean said. “I thought she was beautiful the moment I laid eyes on her. Of course, she was dating that moron Michael Corner.”

“Wait, she was with me at the Yule Ball when she met him. She left me to dance with him, and I didn’t see her the rest of the night. That was so humiliating,” Neville responded.

“As much as I would love to walk down memory lane, gentlemen, I believe Longbottom here told me not to bother anyway because I don’t stand a chance.”

“I think I concur with Neville,” Dean added.

“Would you like to make a wager on that?” Draco asked cunningly.

“You’re not serious?” Dean asked, a bit shocked.

“I am most certainly, and I would like to wager that I could get Ginny to fall in love with me faster than you could get Hermione Granger to fall in love with you.”

“Whoa,” Neville exclaimed. “When did you tell Draco about your feelings for Hermione, Dean?”

“I didn’t,” Dean answered him with amazement. “But I guess I can’t deny it now.”

“Sorry,” Neville replied.

“Oh, this is too good,” Draco said. “I was thinking that I had picked someone Dean would never pursue just to make it harder on him, but you actually like her.”

“The problem,” Dean answered, “she is still in love with Ron and probably always will be.”

“I don’t think so,” Neville replied. “She was pretty pissed off when I ran into her the other night. She had just run into Ron and some girl. She didn’t tell me who. He had told her they were just friends, but Hermione didn’t believe him. Especially after the look the girl had given Ron. She may actually be over him.”

“Well then, Thomas, what do you think? Do you want to make a bet on this or what?”

“I don’t think I like what the two of you are proposing,” Neville interjected. “You are talking about two very good friends of mine, and you’re making a mockery out of love.”

“No we aren’t, Neville,” Dean replied. “We’re just making a friendly bet about who can get the girl he pines for first.”

“And what happens if they find out?”

“They won’t,” Draco answered him. “Unless you let it slip out like you did about Dean.”

“I think I should walk away from this so I don’t know any more than I already do. Then they won’t find out from me.” He started to leave the table.

“You can’t leave,” Dean told him. “We need a witness. So what are we wagering?”

“I say 100 Galleons that I can have Ginny’s heart by Easter, Draco told him.

“That’s six months from now!” Dean exclaimed.

“What are you, scared?”

“Not a chance, are you?”

“No way, one date with me and Ginny will forget all about Potter. So, we have a bet then?”

“We certainly do. Shake?”

The two men shook.